Subsurface volume loss takes place in many geotechnical situations, and it is inherently accompanied by complex stress and displacement fields that may influence the performance of engineered geosystems. This research is a deformation-centered analysis, it depends on soil compressibility and it is implemented using finite elements. Soil stiffness plays a central role in predicting ground deformation. First, an enhanced Terzaghi’s soil compressibility model is proposed to satisfy asymptotic conditions at low and high stress levels with a small number of physically meaningful parameters. Then, the difference between small and large strain stiffness is explored using published small and large-strain stress-strain data. Typically, emphasis is placed on the laboratory-measured stiffness or compressibility; however, there are pronounced differences between laboratory measurements and field values, in part due to seating effects that prevail in small-thickness oedometer specimens. Many geosystems are subjected to repetitive loads; volumetric strains induced by drained repetitive ko-loads are experimentally investigated to identify shakedown and associated terminal density. The finite element numerical simulation environment is used to explore the effect of localized subsurface mass loss on free-surface deformation and shallow foundations settlement and bearing capacity. A stress relaxation module is developed to reproduce the change in stress associated to dissolution features and soft zone formation. The comprehensive parametric study is summarized in terms of dimensionless ratios that can be readily used for engineering applications. Field settlement data gathered at the Savannah River Site SRS are back-analyzed to compare measured values with predictions based on in situ shear wave velocity and strain-dependent stiffness reduction. The calibrated model is used to estimate additional settlements due to the pre-existing cavities, new cavities, and potential seismic events during the design life of the facility.

Le travail de thèse présenté dans ce mémoire vise à analyser et à comprendre les mécanismes mis en jeu au niveau de l’impact du creusement d’un tunnel par bouclier à front pressurisé sur des fondations profondes avoisinantes. Cette thèse a été réalisée dans le cadre du projet européen NeTTUN, au sein du Laboratoire de Tribologie et de Dynamique des Systèmes (LTDS) de l’ENTPE. L’approche phénoménologique conduite lors de ces travaux repose sur deux importantes campagnes expérimentales réalisées à l’aide d’un dispositif unique au plan international de modèle réduit 1g de tunnelier à pression de terre (échelle de l’ordre de 1/10eme). La forte originalité de ce dispositif est de pouvoir simuler de façon réaliste les principales étapes du processus tridimensionnel d’excavation mécanisé d’un tunnel. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, le dispositif existant de modèle réduit de tunnelier a dans un premier temps été reconfiguré afin de pouvoir répondre aux besoins du programme expérimental envisagé. Des modèles physiques de fondations profondes (pieux et groupes de pieux) et de barrières de protection ont été conçus dans le cadre des lois de similitude, fabriqués et instrumentés. Deux campagnes expérimentales d’envergure ont été réalisées en massif de sable sec : l’une concerne les effets du passage d’un tunnelier à front pressurisé sur des fondations profondes avoisinantes (pieux, groupe de pieux), l’autre traite de l’efficacité de barrières de protection (parois moulées) utilisées pour limiter ces effets. Différents paramètres qui influencent l’interaction tunnelier - sol - fondations ont été considérés comme la distance relative tunnel / fondation, la pression frontale de soutènement appliquée par le TBM sur le terrain ou encore la hauteur des barrières de protection. L’analyse phénoménologique menée à l’échelle du modèle concerne en particulier l’évolution des champs de contraintes et de déplacements dans le terrain autour du tunnelier, les déplacements relatifs sol - pieu et sol- barrière, la redistribution des efforts au sein des fondations. L’importante base de données et d’analyse ainsi constituée a été mise à profit pour la validation d’outils de modélisation numérique développés par l’Université de Rome au sein du projet NeTTUN. / The major goal presented in this thesis was to analyze and investigate the mechanisms, which are involved in the impact of the tunnels excavated thanks to an Earth Pressure Balanced Shield on nearby deep foundations. This thesis was realized in European project NeTTUN and the work had been done in the Laboratory of Tribology and Systems Dynamics (LTDS) of ENTPE. During these works, phenomenological approach was based on two important experimental campaigns carried out using a unique device at the international level of a 1g scale model of earth-pressure tunnel boring machine (scale of the order of 1 / 10). The state of the art of this device was to be able to simulate in possibly realistic way the main stages of the three-dimensional process of mechanized excavation of a tunnel. In the framework of this thesis, the existing model tunneling machine device was initially reconfigured in order to reach the expectations of the experimental program envisaged. Physical models of deep foundations (piles and groups of piles) and protective barriers were designed under the similitude laws, manufactured and instrumented. The two large-scale experimental campaigns have been carried out in a dry sand massif. The first one concerned the effects of the passage of a pressurized tunnel boring machine on nearby deep foundations (piles, group of piles), whereas another one dealed with the effectiveness of mitigation procedure (diaphragm walls) used to limit these effects. Different parameters that influenced on the tunneling: soil - foundation interaction considered as the relative tunnel / foundation distance, the frontal face pressure applied by the TBM in the field or the height of the protective barriers. The phenomenological analysis carried out at the scale of the model concerned in particular the evolution of the fields of stresses and displacements in the ground around the tunnel boring machine, relatives pile / soil and wall / soil displacements and the redistribution of stresses along the pile foundations. The large database and analysis constituted was used for the validation of numerical modeling tools developed by the University of Rome within the NeTTUN project.